Pears are susceptible in postharvest to prevalent pathogens on apples in Southern Brazil

Abstract

The postharvest susceptibility of pear fruits to Cryptosporiopsis perennans, Colletotrichum gloeosporioides,
Botryosphaeria dothidea, Penicillium expansum, Botrytis cinerea and Alternaria alternata was assessed. Wounded and
unwounded pear cultivars (cvs.) Housui, Abate Fetel, Ya-li, Kousui, Niitaka, d’Anjou, Packham’s Triumph and Williams
were inoculated with the pathogens and the incidence and severity of decay was recorded. B. dothidea infected
unwounded pears ‘Housui’, ‘Abate Fetel’, ‘Ya-li’, ‘Kousui’, ‘Niitaka’, ‘Packham’s Triumph’ and ‘d’Anjou’; C. gloeosporioides
infected ‘Abate Fetel’, ‘Niitaka’ and ‘Packham’s Triumph’ pear fruits unwounded, and C. perennans also infected
unwounded fruits d’Anjou and Packham’s Triumph. Pear fruits with wounds were susceptible to all the pathogens.